A Bit of a Problem...

My friend recently purchased a bass for $40, and there are a number of problems with the fingerboard. First, the epoxy finish (what the person put on there before he sold it) is really uneven. Second, when I play the bass, I cannot get anything other than horrible buzzing until the seventh or so fret, and then it sounds great. I suspect it's a truss rod issue, which leads me into the third and hopefully final problem: the adjustment end of the truss rod is stripped, and I cannot use an appropriate Allen wrench to adjust. What can I do about this?

BTW: We have no idea who made it, but it's a P-clone with a body-adjusted truss rod, no headstock angle (like a Fender) and a maple fingerboard.

I think I remeber seeing several threads in the setup forum about stripped truss rod nuts, you might try a search over there. Theres also plenty of truss rod adjustment info there.

The uneven finish could have an effect on that buzzing too. If the finish is REALLY high in places i think it could keep the string from getting enough downward force on the fret. The best way to really fix that is to pull the frets and replane the board, but thats quite a bit of trouble for a 40 dollar bass.

Fretless then fretted, thats interesting. When I said replane the fretboard, I didn't really mean running it through i planer, I guess I meant just giving it a good sanding down and leveling. Sorry for the confusion.

After all that you would probly need to get alot of fret work done too. Maybe this thing was just meant to be fretless

Basically you find the one that is the right size and hammer it into the stripped hole, then turn it counterclockwise and it digs into the stripped hole and makes it turn for this one time shot. After you get the nut out, you will have to replace it, but at least you can get it out.

For the lumpy epoxy, I'd sand it with wet/dry sand paper, under a damp sponge so you do not dig in too much. Start with a grit around 330 and work up to 1200, then use automotive compound, then automotive polish to remove the scuffing the sanding created while flatening.

I've never had near that much trouble with epoxy. on places where i spill it or what not I just use a palm sander and it zips right off. Just make sure you get tough sandpaper, like aluminum oxide (i think thats what it's called?).

UPDATE: I had to buy a new neck. I got a really good deal on a really nice one, but unfortunately, in typical me fashion, it doesn't fit. That means I have to try to fill in the uneven spots (where the removing of the board went awry) with sawdust and super glue. Should I do this, or something else?

EDIT: Is finding sawdust as problematic for anyone else? I tried contacting LMII and StewMac, and apparently I have to go to their HQ - something, as a resident of WI, I cannot do.

Unfortunately, as I had stated in a message that I deleted for some twisted reason, the fingerboard is quite gone. In order to get a new rod in there (which I did without too many problems), I had to take the old board off. What I wasn't expecting, though, was for it to split into a million pieces. No, I'm referring to the chips and whatnot in the actual neck. Since no other neck fits, I'm pretty intent on salvaging this one.

In what way does the new neck not fit? If it's slightly oversized you could always route out the neck pocket to fit (or scrape/file/sand). If it's undersized, it's pretty simple to fill in the space with either epoxy or some other filling material (wood putty! woo!).

UPDATE: I know this is really not a smart thing to do, reviving my dead topic, but it's the same project, so...

Anyway, I now have a nice cocobolo fingerboard blank, with a 12" radius. And those chips, divots, tears in the neck are still there. How do I go about filling them? I was told CA and sawdust was not a smart idea, but I wasn't told what would work.

FINAL UPDATE: The neck will be finished come Saturday. Unfortunately, that means I don't get it back until Monday, and then I still have to put finish on the board. That means come Tuesday, I'll be finished with my first repair job (well, I did as much as I could; I don't actually have a bandsaw or a sander).

Man, that's one disaster after another. Make sure you plan the solution to all problems and implementation of all fixes prior to attempting the fix to prevent further issues.

I've never had any problems working with epoxy coated necks either. It's obvious that it's no longer an option, but I would have thought sanding with a radius block would have done it. Sandpaper depends on how thick the coat is and how much to take off.

Yeah, but it's all for the better. That fingerboard was in no condition to be salvaged, and the truss rod thing wasn't my fault. Now all I have to do is wait for a few days, get some other things done to it (finishing the board; that will take about a day, maybe less), and get strings on it.